(CNN) – Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Sunday that he believes Mitt Romney will win Ohio, a crucial battleground state for the election.

"I believe right now we are currently ahead. Internals show us currently ahead. I honestly think that Romney is going to carry Ohio. And you know I haven't been saying this. I now believe its going to happen," Kasich, a Republican, said on NBC's "Meet the Press."FULL POST

(CNN) – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus characterized a recent series of gaffes made by Republicans - concerning rape and, more recently, race - as “small brush fires” that add up to a distraction from the main issues of the election.

“You want people to be disciplined, and obviously if people misspeak and they cause, for no apparent reason, small brush fires on their own, that’s a distraction. But, overall, this is still an election about the economy,” Priebus told CNN's Candy Crowley on “State of the Union” on Sunday.FULL POST

Sabina, Ohio (CNN) – Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan lent support to running mate Mitt Romney in Ohio on Saturday by going after President Barack Obama for "picking winners and losers" in the federal auto bailout.

The Republican presidential ticket has struggled to overcome the Democratic president's lead in the crucial battleground state, in part because of Romney's opposition in 2008 to a federal bailout of the U.S. auto industry.FULL POST